Zefiro / Alfredo Bernardini JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH The Brandenburg Concertos

The name of this group of concertos, attributed by Bach scholar Philipp Spitta, comes from their dedication to the Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, half-brother of King Friedrich I of Prussia. The original title of the autograph score of 1721 reads: “Six Concerts Avec plusieurs Instruments Dediées A Son Altesse Royalle Monseigneur Crétien Louis, Marggraf de Brandenbourg ... par Son tres-humble et tres obeissant serviteur Jean Sebastien Bach”. The use of the French language was common at the German courts, reflecting the influence that the court of Versailles held over the other courts of Europe in matters of art and culture. 

The six Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are some of the most celebrated and fre- quently performed works in concerts and at festivals. And yet, this cycle presents numerous characteristics that are unusual when compared to the Italian models of recent invention. Indeed, Bach did not hesitate to incorporate among the more brilliant or cantabile movements typical of the concerto grosso or the Italian solo concerto certain elements characteristic of other styles.

Cecilia Bernardini / Dunedin Consort / John Butt BACH Violin Concertos

There is certainly no shortage of recordings of these popular Bach violin works, but this one by the Dunedin Consort with violinist Cecilia Bernardini has many aspects to recommend it. At the top of the list must be the soloist's flair of Bernardini herself, playing a bright-eyed 1743 Camillus Camilli violin. In her playing you get the virtuoso energy of the contemporary Italian school without the hard edge, and there is a sense of play in her music-making that one senses Bach would have loved. Sample one of the finales, perhaps the "Allegro assai" from the Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042, for a taste. Bernardini also interacts marvelously with her collaborators, Huw Daniel in the two-violin concerto and her father, Alfredo Bernardini, producing a bewitching Baroque oboe sound in the hypothetical but convincing Concerto for violin and oboe in C minor, BWV 1060R. Another of those collaborators is John Butt, who leads a perfectly sized Dunedin Consort (there is a ripieno string group, but a small one) that follows Bernardini with agility around the high-speed corners. The Greyfriars Kirk sound is clear but a little chilly for what is really a very warm performance that finds a lot of fun in Bach's music. Highly recommended. (James Manheim)